Contact in Blue
by Platapap
Summary: AU. The Normandy and her crew are about to take the next big step in humanity's history: jumping through the newly discovered Mass Relay. What lies on the other side, nobody knows, but Commander Shepard is determined to find out. With her gamble comes a chance encounter coated in a thousand shades of blue.
1. Chapter 1

Hello, and thank you for deciding to read my story. I just finished the Mass Effect Trilogy and got inspired to write an AU fanfiction for it! That said, it's been about two years since I've written anything so I apologize in advance for being a little rusty. Please enjoy and tell me what you think! :)

**Disclaimer**: I don't own Mass Effect or its characters.

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"_I see skies of blue and clouds of white,  
The bright blessed day, the dark sacred night,  
And I think to myself what a wonderful world."_

"Very nice."

"Thanks. I thought it oddly appropriate."

"Jeff," a computerized voice broke between Shepard and Joker's little back-and-forth quip. "We are approaching Pluto, which is a dwarf planetoid with little-to-no atmosphere to speak of."

Joker sighed. "Thanks for killing the joke, EDI."

"I see. That was irony. I will adjust my sensors to better pick up when sarcasm and irony are being applied." The blue sphere blipped out of view and a comfortable silence fell over the Normandy's cockpit once more.

Shepard crossed her arms and leaned back against a corner of the room, staring outside the shutters and watching the stars twinkle in and out of view as they traveled closer to the edge of their solar system. _Space travel, real artificial intelligence, aliens; even after a few weeks on the Normandy, it's hard to grasp that this is really happening._

Shepard was the Commander of the Normandy, a joint project between the Alliance Military, a group of thirty or so countries pooling their resources into one group; Illusive Industries, the group responsible for building the Normandy and constructing the first real artificial intelligence "EDI" in France; and the Lawson Corporation, the group that first discovered the alien archives on Mars and brought technology literally light years ahead of its time.

It was under her command that the crew of the Normandy was to find and activate this "Mass Relay" that supposedly sat at the edge of the Sol System.

"Commander? Thirty minutes until we reach the target. Bringing up a visual." Joker punched in a few keys and a screen appeared.

Shepard could feel her heart rate pick up as she gazed at their new means of transportation into uncharted systems. Trying (and failing) to calm herself, she took in the large object before her with forest green eyes. "It kind of looks like a magnifying glass."

"Sure, if you squint your eyes and tilt your head a little," Joker added.

Shepard couldn't fight the smile forming on her face. It was because of Jeff's constant joking that the trip from Mars to Pluto wasn't as tense as it could have been. Being the first people to jump across space and time seemed to weigh heavily on the crew, so the jests were very much welcome.

Speaking of the crew… "Time for a last minute check in before we do this." Shepard reached over Joker and pushed the intercom button, "Engineer Adams, how's our status?"

Adam's voice came back from the other side, "My board is all green, Commander. The Normandy is ready to jump on your command."

"Keep up the good work, Adams." Shepard switched to another group. "Doctor Taylor? How are you holding up?"

"I can't believe we're actually doing this!" Mrs. Taylor almost squee'd with barely contained excitement. _Not exactly an answer, but this is probably the best we'll get out of her for a while._ Brynn was by far the most ecstatic and vocal about their voyage, so much so that Shepard almost felt sorry for Jacob. Almost.

"We're good, Commander," Jacob's voice was barely audible above his wife's in the background.

Shepard resisted the urge to tease. "Just make sure she's okay after the jump. We're going to need both of you in good health."

"You leave that to me, Commander. You have a ship to run," Doctor Chakwas cut in from the med-bay. Even though Brynn was a month pregnant, she _insisted_ on being part of the first crew to travel through the Mass Relay. Of course this was met with disagreement on every side due to her status, but Shepard had to admit that Mrs. Taylor was nothing if not tenacious, threatening to stow away in the hull if not given a proper position. Finally, she was given a spot as chief scientist as everyone begrudgingly agreed that having someone of her expertise would help the mission. Jacob wasn't happy with the results, but he admitted to Shepard in private that he would rather be with his family than risk making his unborn child father-less.

"Carry on." Shepard comm'd the armory, "Alenko? Williams? What's the status down there?"

"Bored as usual, ma'am," Ashley replied. Being the weapons specialist of the group, there was little for her to do other than check up on equipment every now and then. Shepard understood her restlessness, but they were about to warp into unknown space and had to be prepared for anything.

"What Williams _means_ is that everything is primed and accounted for, Commander," Kaiden quickly cut in.

Shepard smirked at her Lieutenant's attempt to smooth things over before anything even started. "Thanks for the translation, Kaiden."

"Anytime, ma'am."

Ashley groaned somewhere in the background.

"Shepard," a voice came from right behind the commander. "I figured you were going to ask me to get things started, so I came here in person instead."

"Right as always, Miranda," the redhead addressed the newcomer. Being the first daughter of Henry Lawson, Miranda volunteered to personally oversee the mission on behalf of the Lawson Corporation. "Have you gotten hold of Jack back on Mars?"

A frown threatened to cross Miranda's features. "No. She keeps ending the calls before answering. I swear she's doing it just to get on my nerves. I was hoping you could hail her from the bridge instead."

Joker whined from the pilot's seat. "Do we have to?"

"Joker…"

"_Fine_. Opening a channel to Mars."

A few button presses later and a screen showing a tattooed woman sitting in an office opened up. The woman smirked when she saw who was on the other side, "Hey, Shep! Was beginning to worry you had forgotten all about me."

Shepard grinned. "You, Jack? Never."

"Good. If I had to deal with the cheerleader any longer I was going to cut off my ears and be done with it."

Said "cheerleader" coughed in annoyance, signaling her presence in the room.

"Oh, hey princess." Jack's smirk just grew as Miranda scowled.

"If you weren't needed for this project…" Miranda's threat trailed off. Jack was originally in jail for hacking into some of the world's top-secret organizations for "fun". She agreed to be put on probation in exchange for helping jump start the Mass Relay. So there she was, one of the best computer hackers of this generation, sitting pretty in a large office in Lawson Corporation's Mars branch facility.

"What? You'd throw your pom-poms at me?"

"That's enough you two." Shepard easily slipped into her Commander-mode. "Jack, we called to report we're about fifteen minutes out from the Mass Relay. Please inform Mr. Lawson that we're ready for you and his team to start it up."

"That's it? No catching up? No dirt on team Normandy to report in?"

"'Dirt on team Normandy'?" Shepard echoed with a confused frown.

"Please. You spend seven weeks floating in space and you're telling me _nothing_ has happened? I figured you and Sam would be banging like dogs in heat up in your fancy captain's cabin."

"No." Shepard deadpanned.

"Really? 'Cuz the way Sam's gawking at my breasts through the vid-com tells me otherwise."

Samantha Traynor's voice buzzed through the intercom, "That's because you refuse to wear anything other than a belt over your chest! And in case you've forgotten, it's my job to monitor the airwaves."

"Uh-huh. Whatever helps you masturbate at night, Sam."

"Jack. Please." Shepard attempted to bring the conversation back to its original purpose.

Jack rolled her eyes. "Fine, fine. I'll send the message through. Jack out." She gave a mock salute before the screen faded.

"She's always so pleasant to talk with," Joker quipped as he continued to fly the Normandy.

The blue sphere, a visual representation of EDI, appeared next to Joker. "Commander, we are approaching the launch point stated in the Prothean's guide on Mass Relays. All that is left is to wait on Jack to start it up. If you wish to address the crew, now would be an opportune time."

Shepard nodded. "Open the intercom to every room."

"At once, Commander."

Shepard stood at attention, her hands clasped behind her, her back facing Joke and Miranda as she addressed her crew on the bridge. "This is how history is made," she started. "Men and women of all different backgrounds coming together and challenging the unknown. The Normandy is the first ship the pass through the relay and as such, we don't know what we will encounter on the other side. I know some of you may be anxious, even scared of what may happen, but remember this, we're in this together. Together we take humanity's next step forward into the future. Together history will be made." In the corner of her eye, she noticed the mass relay flash a bright blue, then dim down until only a sphere energy churned in the eye of the relay. "Everyone buckle up as we approach the jump."

She watched as the crew found the nearest seat they could find. Steeling herself, she strode towards the cockpit and took a seat there, Joker and Miranda already buckled in.

"Commander, Jack has just informed me that the Mass Relay is up and fully functional. All of the crew is fastened for the launch. We are ready to jump at any moment," EDI informed.

"Just give the word and watch the best pilot do his thing," Joker added.

_This is it._ Shepard gripped the buckles crossing over her torso. She could feel her heart wanting to burst through her ribcage; the sheer excitement in the air of the ship was enough to send her reeling. What were they going to find? A new solar system? Maybe even end up in a new galaxy. _We're really doing this._

She took a deep breath and slowly let it out before turning to Joker. "Let's do this."

"Aye aye, Commander."

And just like that, the excitement was gone, replaced by the weight of the world. It was suffocating; the future of billions of people rode on the success of this mission, on the crew of a little more than twenty people. What would happen if they failed? What if only death was on the other side of this jump? Shepard knew these thoughts and more crossed the mind of her crew, and she couldn't blame them. It took Thomas Edison over ten thousand tries to finally create the light bulb; what if they were to become just a statistic in history of humanity?

The Commander lightly shook her head, he red hair brushing across her face as she tried to rid the negative thoughts from her mind. _Just focus on what to do once we get to the other side._ She could hear the Normandy's engine core revving up as they approached the large structure. She glared ahead, green eyes hardening along with her grip.

_Come on, universe. Hit me with your best shot._

There was a split second of lightlessness, followed by her ears popping and the air painfully being sucked out of her. In the next moment, everything was back to normal. She looked around, almost in a daze, and noticed the rest of her crew doing the same. _Did… did we do it?_

"Commander." Everyone on the bridge jumped in their seats as EDI's voice cut through the thick silence. "All systems are normal with no damage to report. We have successfully traveled through the Mass Relay."

A few beats passed before the bridge was drowned in cheers of celebration. Everything from 'We did it!' to 'We're still alive!' bounced around the metal room; there was laughter, hugging and tears of joy. Shepard herself felt a wave of tension flow out of her, suddenly feeling exhausted but a small smile still forming on her face.

One voice, however, didn't sound as happy as the others as it addressed the Commander. Miranda was still buckled in. "Shepard, I can't get hold of Jack or my father, and this time it's not because they aren't answering."

"Out of range?" Shepard mused out loud. "EDI, get Traynor on it. See if you two and Miranda can boost the signal and reach Earth or Mars."

"Yes, Commander."

"Uh, Commander?" Joker called out. "You're going to want to see this."

Shepard paused at those words, weighing the implication. "We just traveled who-knows-how-far from our solar system, Joker. There's probably a lot of things I'm going to want to see." She unbuckled from her seat and walked the few steps to Joker's (leather) chair.

"From what I'm seeing, I'm not so sure." Joke pulled up a screen showing a sphere of blue and green. "That's the nearest planet to here."

Shepard frowned at the familiar sight of blue and green. "Earth?" _Please don't let this turn out to be humanity's greatest and most expensive fuck-up._ How would she explain to the world that the Mass Relay was simply a glorified return-to-sender? While it proved that it _did_ essentially work, this would make the Mass Relay virtually useless.

"Negative, Commander," Joker piped up. "I just checked and I can tell you without a doubt that we are nowhere near our solar system. EDI tells me it has oceans and land, breathable air and is in a habitual sweet spot around this system's star."

"Wait. So that means…"

"That means we can tell Miranda's father we hit the jackpot five minutes into the mission and can go home now." Joker quickly backpedaled, "Once we find a way home, that is…"

"I… that…" The commander was utterly speechless. This had to be too good to be true! Did the Protheans plan it this way? Did they know that humanity would expand, looking for a new place to settle, and pre-programmed an exit point to a new, habitual world to explore? "… This…"

"You're fumbling, Commander." Miranda looked amused.

"Can you blame me?" Shepard shot back, gesturing to the screen in front of her. "We just found the perfect planet right out of the gate! Once we get through to Jack, we're going to have to prepare a ground team and explore. Tell Cortez, Williams and Vega to get ready." Shepard had to admit that she probably sounded almost like Mrs. Taylor at this point, but she couldn't help herself. Their mission was quickly turning into a success!

"Um, Commander. Before that, there's something wrong that needs addressing," Traynor reported over the intercom from her station.

"Samantha? What is it? Still can't get in contact with Jack?"

"Well, yes that too, but… um… we're… we're being… hailed…"

"Hailed?"

"Yes, by another sh-ship. Patch…" a hard swallow, "patching it through." Samantha sounded shaken up, and soon her voice was replaced by… sounds so foreign Shepard couldn't even begin to make sense of it. What are those? Certainly not words, right?

Shepard's mind began to race. Another ship? But theirs was the only one sent through; and these sounds, way too exotic to be coming from a human. Her thoughts had immediately reached a conclusion, but it was too bizarre, too surreal to _be_ real. The planet, the ship, the sounds all of it was far too… alien. The voice's pitch changed to a strong, commanding voice, almost impatient. Right, a hail, she was supposed to answer back. But how _could_ she answer back? She couldn't understand what they were saying; hell, now that she thought about it, she was barely able to stand. The world was spinning—_aliens?_

She could hear her blood rushing past her ears, her breath heavy and her clammy grip on Joker's chair told her she had broken out into a cold sweat. _Aliens?_ She had to be the commander of her group, had to lead them in any situation. One quick glance to her side showed the others in the cockpit were just as paralyzed as she was. She had to respond.

She swallowed, trying to whet her throat and speak past the large knot that settled there. "Ah…" Not a word was uttered. Barely a sound passed through her, silenced and standing stock-still.

The rest was a blur. EDI was urgently informing her and Joker of something before she suddenly blipped out mid-sentence. Joker snapped out of it and sounded an alarm, typing away desperately while yelling at the Commander. The ship shook and the bridge door opened. Shepard turned around; seconds stretched into hours. Guns, yelling, alarms, shooting. It all happened so fast; no one had enough time to react.

Shepard was knocked across the back of the head, her last thought before slipping into the darkness: _blue…_


	2. Chapter 2

Hello again! Thank you for sticking around for the second chapter! Few things before we start:

1) I changed Shepard's eye color to green in the first chapter. Forgot what her default eye color was when I wrote it, but it's fixed now. Also, this Shepard is about Paragon 65/35 Renegade; she has done some things in her past that she's not quite proud of, but is willing to do them again if need be.

2) My apologies for taking a while to get this chapter out. A few things prevented me from writing it: the fact that I'm still hesitant on exactly how far I want to take this fic (how long it will be), ADHD curving my attention and enthusiasm, and the fact that I apparently suck at writing from Liara's point of view. I'm trying to work on that last one though, as I will eventually like to write chapters from her POV.

3) The characters' backgrounds, motivations, ect. will be slightly altered from canon, making this a true AU, but their core characters will still be there. For example, to better fit the setting, Liara is a xenoanthropologist instead of an archeologist and her family relations will be different, but she's still Liara T'Soni.

**Whew. Now with those out of the way, please enjoy! ^^**

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_It was dark and she was choking._

_Smoke filled her lungs and burned her eyes, using her free arm to cover her mouth as she moved. Frantic, she ran blindly down the corridor, hoping beyond hope that she was getting closer to the exit._

_"It's okay, we'll make it out of here." Her words of comfort sounded forced and empty even to her own ears, but she had to be optimistic, for both of them. Her grip around that tiny hand tightened as she turned down the hall. "We're almost th—"_

_A wall of fire lashed out at her, a flash of light and heat glaring at her from around the corner. Silently cursing, she doubled back, dragging the little boy along with her as fast as his little legs would allow. There had to be another way out! She racked her mind, trying to remember where she was in the building, but it was getting so hard to think, so hard to breathe…_

_Everything started to blur together, started to hurt as the flames licked at her sides and the thick haze sent her into a coughing fit. But she kept running, pushing herself forward because his life depended on her. This was her job. This was her mission. She was the Shepherd—_

_A loud snap from above caused a sickening twist in her stomach. She knew that sound, what was about to happen, but she wasn't fast enough. The ceiling came crashing down around her and before she could react, that tiny grip was yanked away from her with terrible force. Her world slowed down as she turned, and all she could see was beams of charred wood and plumes of dust where he should have been. A bloodcurdling shriek ripped up from the back of her throat._

"_JOHNNY!_"

She shot up, green eyes darted about in a frenzy. _John? Fire? No. Safe. Safe where?_ The new train of thought successfully sidetracked the Commander and she soon started to calm down. Lifting a shaky hand to her thudding heart, Shepard tried to steady herself as she glanced around. _Where am I?_

She pushed aside the white sheets that clung uncomfortably to her sweat-soaked skin, untangling herself from the covers as she swung her legs over the side of the cot. She winced when her bare feet met the chilly, metallic floor of her new quarters, hissing at both the cold surface and the cold reminder of her circumstances.

_Ah, that's right._ It was all coming back to her. She leaned her elbows on her thighs and buried her face into her hands as wry smile broke out across her face. Shepard had to stop herself from chuckling at the sheer ludicrousy of it all. _I'm being held captive by fucking _aliens_. _This was the third time she had awoken to this scene, and the novelty still hadn't worn off. _Not that I've actually seen them yet._

It was true; she had spent the last three days in this tiny room and not once had she encountered the aliens she heard over her ship's communication. At several points she had wondered if it even happened. (Maybe that was all a dream and she was back on Earth in a detention cell, being penalized for some stupid thing she had done while drunk. It certainly wouldn't be the first time.) However, those thoughts were quickly dashed by the unnatural voices coming from the other side of the sealed door, and reality set in once more.

_I should have done something!_ There was little to do in this room but think and all her thoughts naturally went back to that moment on the Normandy when she froze. Shame and rage filled her as she recalled her inability to act. _I'm the Commander! I'm supposed to be the one everyone turns to as a steady foundation, the rock that will see them through even during the most trying of times! And I what do I do? Freeze up like a fucking deer in headlights!_ An angry fist slammed against her thigh. And now, all because of her, Shepard's crew was put in danger, or possibly worse. "Goddamnit," came the strangled whisper.

So here she was, three days without any news on her crew, trapped God-knows-where by God-knows-what, kept alive by three meals a day slipped through a grate underneath what Shepard was sure was a one-way mirror.

Looking at the stack of trays on the nearby bedside stand, she recalled being surprised when familiar food was slipped into the room and not some ghoulish horror that passed for alien cuisine. Shepard's mind was quick to mock her however, reminding her that familiar food just meant that _they had her ship_. At this realization, she had lost her appetite.

Exercise, eat, sleep, repeat; the minutes dragged on with nothing else to do. She had even tried to MacGyver her way out with limited resources, but her resolve dwindled as time passed, wondering why she was even being kept alive. What was the point if they weren't even going to interact with her? And what happened after she was knocked out? And where were her friends? And—

"_Damn it!_" This time she roared, her red mane flying as she threw her head back. Her white-knuckled fist made contact with the wall with a harsh thud, hard enough to make her hand go numb, and the lights built into the wall flickered before shutting off. Caught off-guard, her fury instantly evaporated into confusion, looking around the darkened room. "… This room is a lot more fragile than I thought."

Before she could dwell on this, the voices on the other side of the wall increased in volume, sounding alarmed. The Commander allowed herself a triumphant grin as she listened to steps rushing about; seems she'd caused some sort of chaos. _Serves the bastards right._ A thought occurred. _Wait, if the cell is this easily damaged, maybe I can simply bust my way out of here._ Her musings were cut short by a loud whirling sound, followed by a whoosh. The door was opening. Someone was coming in.

Shepard's breath caught in her throat as light slowly streamed into the room, revealing a silhouette of a… _Human?_ Green eyes squinted as she tried to adjust her vision. Hope blossomed in her chest- maybe she was being saved! One of her crewmembers must have survived and broken free! The figure looked to be female; Shepard instantly grinned at the thought of Ashley barreling her way hoards of little grey aliens. "Hey Ash," the Commander started easily, "what took you so…" The rest died off as the lights finally flickered back on.

_That's not Ash._ Shepard's throat painfully tightened and breathing became an endeavor. _That's not even a human._ Anchored in place by the sight before her, she couldn't move. Blue eyes, blue hands, blue face- just, blue. She stared into blue, and blue started back, looking almost as stunned as she was. They stayed like that for a long moment before blue suddenly snapped out of it. The human watched as blue visibly gathered their wits before taking a step towards her.

_Move, you idiot!_ Using her best Commander voice, she practically hollered in her head to do something, _anything._ Shaking herself out of her stupor, Shepard sprung to her feet and took up a defensive stance, muscle memory taking action while her mind was still trying to catch up. The figure before her locked up, eyeing her with alarmed freight and she took that opportunity to come up with a plan. The door is only a few feet behind blue, so if I go in for a feint, then duck past it and kick the back of their knee, that should stagger them long enough for me to—

Two more blues appeared in her vision and Shepard watched as they each leveled what appeared to be guns right to her chest. _… Shit._ Slowly, she raised her hands in surrender, green eyes shifting back and forth between them when the armed blues made no move to lower their weapons.

It was then that the unarmed blue spoke up, having shaken off the shock for a second time, moved closer to Shepard and- turned around? It spoke frantically, almost seeming to beseech the other two to calm down and settle things peacefully. But Shepard noticed the two, armed blues were looking at the third and Shepard wasn't one to let an opportunity slip by. She quickly rushed forward to the blue with their back turned and put their head into a stranglehold as her brain quickly ruminated at how to use a hostage to get out of here.

However, before she could even think of putting a plan into action, she suddenly felt like she was slammed by the broad side of a wrecking ball and flew backwards into the wall. Air escaped her on impact, paralyzed momentarily by the pain. The lights flickered but managed to stay on. _… Huh?_ When her thoughts became coherent once more, she noticed she could move even after the pain was muted by adrenaline. She struggled a bit to move her limbs before realizing she wasn't even on the ground!

_What's going on!?_ Her green gaze darted around before landing on the figure she had just had in a chokehold. _W-what the—!?_ Tendrils of white and blue snapped off of a pulsing corona, eyes shining white as they stared in her direction, a hand lifted toward the trapped human's body. Shepard struggled in desperation and that hand curled ever so slightly, the invisible force binding her limbs and neck tightening just enough for a warning. Hearing the message loud and clear, Shepard stopped wriggling, recognizing that her life was in the hands of this blue, glowing alien.

The human tensed as the two, armed blues raised their guns, getting ready to fire, but they were halted by the third who held up their free hand and, in spite of the everything, spoke soft and clearly. She talked without moving her gaze away from Shepard, calmly instructing the others. They looked reluctant, voicing opposition but were eventually talked into lowering their guns and hesitantly leaving the room, glancing warily over their shoulders as the door closed behind them.

And the room was still. Once again, they were locked in a staring contest. Pregnant seconds passed them by before blue dared to speak. Shepard scowled in irritated confusion. "What?" Her limbs were starting to stiffen up now that the adrenaline was waning, and she was panting from exertion.

Blue frowned, muttering to itself for a moment before eyeing the Commander. A few beats passed before Shepard suddenly felt the invisible shackles loosen up a little, the alien still staring at her cautiously. Its aura lessened as it gingerly lowered Shepard to the ground, placing the human's feet firmly on the ground but not letting her free. It spoke and the inflection in its tone made it seem like it was asking something.

Green eyes stared into blue and noticed they bore no anger or hostility, only guarded hesitance. The tone and the gaze were neutral. Offering a truce? Still, even if it wasn't, Shepard was too mentally exhausted to even think about going another bout, especially against something that had weird, glow-y hand voodoo magic. She nodded heavily, "Yeah, yeah. I won't run." Appearing to understand, the binds holding her up disappeared and the alien returned back to its non-wispy state.

Shepard's legs immediately buckled and her back slid down against the illuminated paneling. She rested her head against her upward-bent knees and sighed, the gravity of the situation crashing down onto her like a two-ton weight. There was a blue alien in her room that slammed her into the back wall with weird telekinetic powers after being held at gunpoint.

Shepard made a self-deprecating smile, all her feelings coming out in a quiet, spiteful curse. "Fuck..."


End file.
